There are NUMEROUS ways the divine can be viewed. These are all true, in some sense,
to some degree. These are all false, as any set of things we could possibly put
together must be complete, as we cannot as finite beings perceive the infinite. Thus,
all are woefully incomplete. Nonetheless, as other pages on this site use various
theological definitions for these things, explanations and definitions will be given
for the terms used or commonly used.

Definitions of -isms

Following are some definitions of the beliefs in God, or possible beliefs or
non-beliefs in God or the Gods. This is by no means an exhaustive list!

Monotheism - A belief that there is one God with a name, form, and attributes Who
is separate from mundane things, although interacts with them to some degree.

Dualism - A belief that two things exist. Unfortunately, the most common of these
is the dualism of good and evil, light and dark, white and black. The first thing is
generally considered "good" and the second "evil". That wouldn't be so bad except
other pairs of opposites get put into that duality. That comes to include masculine
and feminine, active and passive, white and non-white races, thin and fat, tall and
short, and so on.
Samkhya is a dualistic belief system in some sense because it believes that
Purusa or Pure Consciousness exists as well as Prakriti or Primordial
Materiality exists. These are masculine and feminine, respectively. They are viewed as
different, but neither is "greater" or "lesser" than the other.

Pantheism - a belief that God is throughout and within Everything.

Monism - A belief that Everything exists within God. There is a small, subtle
difference between pantheism and monism, in terms of what is within what, and hence
the idea of which is "bigger". A monist believes that the divine is "Everything that
does, has, ever will or could exist plus a little bit more." The Pantheist believes
that God is a little bit smaller than Everything that exists.
Slightly different is the whole concept of Advaita, or "Non-Dualism". In most
ways, non-dualism is identical to monism as usually thought of, but it does not have
to be. A non-dualist can be a non-theist as well.

Panentheism - The Gods are everywhere, within, throughout, between, and among
everything.

Polytheism - Numerous Gods, at least three, objectively exist outside of the
material world, although They may interact with it from time to time. Most polytheisms
have numerous Gods. Hinduism enumerates 30,306 (or 3,306 in some translations),
although Hinduism is not strictly polytheistic, even though it looks that way and is
often practiced that way.

Non-Theism - Any belief system that is silent on the existence or non-existence of
God or the Gods. It may believe that this is unknowable, or it may believe that it is
ultimately unimportant to its goals.

Atheism - Lack of belief in God, Gods, or the divine.

Agnosticism - An assertion that it is unknown and perhaps unknowable whether any
sort of God exists or not, as well as the nature of any such God Who may exist. A great confusion comes over the definition of agnostic: It is not "atheism light". Theism or atheism or nontheism involve what someone believes. Agnosticism, or its positive form, gnosticism, involves what someone knows.

Anti-Theism - A belief system that absolutely asserts not only that there is no
God, but that notions of God must be abandoned and actively disbelieved, or that the
belief in a God or Gods is harmful to the person or to others.

Divine Nature Viewed Within Samkhya Wicca

Wicca certainly has NO catechism or any universal statement of beliefs, nor any
governing body. Samkhya has texts, but no central authority to make judgments on what
is or is not heretical. Indeed, the whole concept of heresy does not exist within any
sect of Hinduism, much less the sect that values the individual use of the intellect
as much as Samkhya!

Nonetheless, there are some things that are better suited to it than others.
Monotheism is better suited to an authoritarian, usually patriarchal structure. As
there is respect for both the masculine and the feminine, monotheism at least in any
form that it exists presently simply would not fit. Agnosticism does not work well as
a permanent condition because a great deal of the focus of Samkhya is to KNOW, as it
is a system of belief best suited to Jnana.

There are systems of Samkhya philosophy which are atheistic or even anti-theistic.
There is one Samkhyin text that overtly states that there is no omniscient,
omnipotent, omnipresent God. They do believe that the gods exist, so that this text is
polytheistic in nature.

All of this being said, the Truth of all of these is the intersection of all of these
belief systems. That point is the Truth. Purusa may need to show you this, and at the
same time, It is the point!

Copyright 2004 by Elizabeth Harper
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